Beneath the Ice
by Vibrant Spectrum
Summary: A preview of Hitsugaya Toushiro's life just before he enters Rukongai. Possible character death, depending on how you look at it.


This is my second Bleach fic. It's probably not going to be very good because it was done in a very short period of time, and on a whim. So, please excuse bad plots, grammer, spelling and all that jazz.

Please note the setting: Around 150 years before the actual story line, which means that some of the characters might still have been alive. Of course, 150 years is just a guess.

**Warning: Possible character death, depending on how you look at it.**

Disclaimer: I'm too tired to do a witty disclaimer, so please insert on here. Oh yeah. I don't own Bleach or the characters.

**Beneath the Ice**

A pair of footprints marked the hot, windblown sand. Their owners trudged together in silence, saving every last ounce of breath and energy, both necessary for survival. A scowl adorned the tanned face of the shorter of the two, opposing the optimistic grimace on the other boy's equally brown face.

Toushiro Hitsugaya did not like wandering around in the desert, especially during summer. His brother, however, never gave up hope that they would find someone. Ever since they had been deserted in the deserts of Arabia with nothing but a canister of water each by their orphanage several days ago for causing too much trouble, Toushiro and Riyomi had been walking around the desert, hoping against hope that someone would find them. Toushiro, however, knew better than to believe.

"Toushiro, let's go over there, under that big rock. There'll be shelter there, and if we're lucky, we might be able to trap something." Riyomi pointed towards a large rock and started towards it. Toushiro groaned and followed, too tired to think.

Half-an-hour later, the two boys finally collasped in the shelter of the rock, exhausted. Even Riyomi's spirit had been dampened by the walk. Toushiro noticed this, but decided not to let this bother him. 'We may be cold, hungry, tired and uncomfortable, but at least we still have each other.' The thought echoed around in his head until he finally fell asleep with a small, content smile on his face.

_0000--o--0000_

Dawn found the boys marching up a sand dune, looking for any sign of life. Suddenly, one of them cried out, "Look, Riyomi!Tire tracks!" The siblings grew excited, and quickly followed them, praying for a kind soul. In his heart, Toushiro smiled. Turned out, you couldn't give up hoping that quickly.

They followed the tire tracks a long way, never stopping once. Finally, a form of civilisation became visible over their latest dune. The boys gave a shout of delight, and ran down the slope towards the building, completely ignoring the tire tracks. Had they paid attention to them, they might have noticed that the tracks gave building a huge berth.

Toushiro and Riyomi circled the building and found a heavy, metal door. They pounded desperately on it, and grinned at each other as they heard footsteps approaching. The doors swung open, and before them stood a man in about his mid-forties. Wavy brown hair framed his kind face, and he instantly gave the boys a feeling of safety. The man smiled at them gently, waiting for them to speak. Riyomi, being older, took charge.

"Sorry to disturb you, Mister, but we desperately need you help. We were disowned by our orphanage a few days ago, and we really need-" Riyomi was cut off as the man spoke with a voice as soothing as his smile. "A place to stay? Food to eat and water to drink? Both of you are most welcome here." The man stepped aside and ushered them inside before quickly closing the door. Toushiro and Riyomi traded looks of glee before following the man to a room with a big table and many chairs. They sat down at the man's insistence, thanking him profusely. He acknowledged them with a small wave before leaving the room.

Minutes later, he came back, his arms laden with drinks. Behind him followed an odd looking man. The man had strange, silvery hair that neither of the boys could explain, and an even stranger smile. Toushiro instantly hated the man, but Riyomi seemed to take to him instantly. The man's arms were also full of dishes, all wafting delicious aromas.

_0000--o--0000_

Riyomi and Toushiro stayed at the house for the next few days. They explored around, and always had fun with everything they found. However, they were in for a huge surprise.

Toushiro woke up on the fourth day of their arrival. Something didn't feel right to him… Toushiro made himself wake up properly and nearly gasped.

He had been strapped down, nearly naked, to what appeared to be a surgical table. Many painful looking equipment were lying on trays all around the table, and standing next to him was the creepy man with the weird smile, holding a scaple.

The only thing was that the man wasn't smiling anymore. In fact, it was the closest to a frown Toushiro had ever seen the man do. "Uhh…Aizen, we have a problem here…" "What is it?" "Well…Ya just have ta see fer yourself, won't ya?" The kind looking man approached the table and looked down at Toushiro. Toushiro found his voice and muttered groggily, "Mister? What's going on? Where's Riyomi?"

Aizen, however, ignored him. "Oh. I see. Oh well. It's good know that _that_ happens when we use electricity. We will not make the same mistake again." Aizen then walked out of sight.

"Excuse me, mister, but can you tell me what's going on here?" Toushiro tried again with the silver-haired man. "Well… It's like this. Aizen and I, we injected a hormone into ya' so ya'd grow muscles overnight. Just this experiment we're trying." He shrugged at Toushiro's look. "Anyway, your brain and your heart suddenly decides ter stop working, so we were desperate. We ran one thousand volts of electricity through yer body. Obviously, it worked, but there was this…side effect." The man pointed to the ceiling, where a full-length mirror that had been attached.

Toushiro had noticed the mirror when he woke up, but did not know what he was seeing. Now, with the silver-haired man standing next to him, he realised that it really was a mirror.

Staring back at him was a boy with snow-white, messy hair. His reflection also had strange, turquoise-coloured eyes, eyes which he had never seen on anybody before, least of all himself. Where had his locks of black gone? What had happened to his deep, chocolate brown eyes? The boy in the mirror also had muscles. Muscles that should not have been there for at least several more years as he had not hit puberty yet.

Toushiro stared at himself and twitched his hand. Instantaeneously, his reflection did it as well. There was no doubt. This… This creature staring back at him… Was him. As the thought bounced around in his skull, he fell into a deep unconciousness.

A short while later, Toushiro woke up again, bound to a chair and gagged. He was seated in front of a window of an empty metal room.

Suddenly, a door in the metal room opened. Toushiro watched as Riyomi was shoved inside. His pupils dilated with fear and horror as showerheads on the ceiling started sprinkling a strange, smoking liquid. At first, Toushiro thought it was hot, but then he realised that everything the liquid touched was frozen. Unable to look away, Toushiro watched as his brother fell to the groud, trying to use his arms to protect himself.

Shaken awake by the sight, Toushiro stood up as best he could and slammed himself as hard as he could against the window. Again and again he did so, but his brother never seemed to notice. Tears poured down his face as he realised that his brother could not see him through the window. Toushiro wrenched his eyes away from the window, unable to take anymore. Finally, the showerheads stopped, but Riyomi did not rise from his position on the ground.

Toushiro heard the door in the metal room open. He heard sound from within, but did not dare to look. After a few moments, a door leading from the metal room opened to Toushiro's room. The silver-haired man walked out, beaming as always. Immediately, Toushiro felt a surge of hatred towards him. How could he smile like that, when his brother had just been murdered so brutally?

Then, he noticed what the man was draggingalong behind him. It was the frozen corpse of his brother, mouthing the word he would never speak. Toushiro.

The man, still smiling, made the body stand. "Doncha' think this'll make a nice piece for the dining table, Toushiro?"

Toushiro couldn't take it anymore. He struggled fiercely against the ropes holding him and broke free, running at the door as though it might dissapear at any moment. He flung it open and ran out as fast as he could, the man's cruel laughter still ringing in his ears.

_0000--o--0000_

Over the next week, Toushiro wandered aimlessly across the desert without any food or water. Finally, after ten tedious days, Toushiro collasped beneath the shelter of a strangely familiar rock and comtemplated his situation. He was heartbroken beyond repair, had no food or water, and lost his only motivation to live. His last wish was that he could have died the same way as his brother: packed in ice. He did not deserve this warmth from the sun, which his brother had needed more than him. He hated hot weather, and decided that, no matter what, he would always prefer ice to sunlight, that which had killed his brother.

Toushiro let a final blood-chilling scream. As his vision blurred, he saw two figures, dressed in black robes and brandishing swords.

_0000--o--0000_

Okay! Random story, complete! Less than a day too! This is going to be something like a basis for future fics, just that I'm not using the setting, just the idea. Please do not use this idea without my permission. Oh yes. Please drop me a review to tell me what you think of the idea. If you have seen any fics with similar ideas, or if you have a similar fic, please tell me and I shall go and visit it. Thank you.


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